Category: SEO Content

For many people there is definitely a love-hate relationship with Instagram. Now that it is a property of Facebook it does have many quirks that you need to know about in order to be successful on that social media channel.

Instagram is only an app based product. While you can sign up and configure settings using a desktop or laptop, all of your posting needs to be through the Instagram app. Most people will use this either through their phone or a tablet. Personally I think it’s easier using a phone.

Instagram is only image-based. Users will post an image and then use the description area to discuss a topic. You can create your own images using a picture app, like Canva or PicMonkey, with or without text on them.

Using Hashtags on Instagram

In order to get engagement on your images, hashtags are extremely important. If you are familiar with Twitter then you understand that most of the time people will use three, maybe four hashtags, at the most.

This is where Instagram is definitely different. To get likes, you need to use at least 10 hashtags, if not more. Especially if you are a new account.

If you are an existing account with a decent amount of followers, maybe over 1000, then you may not have to use that many hashtags, if you choose. Many people with personal accounts will only use a few hashtags, as the post is mainly for their followers only.

How to Use Instagram in Your Small Business

But in order to grow your engagement and followers, you need to converse, answer and develop conversations yourself. Comment and like on other people’s posts. Follow those that you have information and posts that interest you. A lot of people will return the favor.

Because this is a Facebook owned company now, in order to be seen in other people’s feeds you need to be active. Instagram is all about engagement with each other.

The algorithms in the feed means that you may not see someone’s posts every single day. Or you may see posts that show up two and three days later.

How to Grow Your Followers

In order to find followers that you want to explore for your own feed, click on the magnifying glass and explore by either hashtag or by name. You also have the ability to pull in your Facebook friends and follow those people, should they have an Instagram account. You will also see recommendations of people but you can follow.

Following, liking, and commenting on other people’s posts is the best way to develop and grow your own following.

Make sure that you are offering posts of value so other people want to follow your account. Everyone’s time is valuable so give them a reason to follow you.

If you want to grow your Instagram site, contact us for ways we can help!

Being a small business owner today involves so much more marketing and online know-how to ensure the visibility of your website and improve traffic. With all of the different tasks that are critical for success, it is the reason that so many companies use freelancers to help with the day to day tasks of running the online portion of their business.

If you are overwhelmed with all of the things you need for improving your online business presence but are not sure how a freelance writer can help you, check out this list! You can easily outsource these tasks.

How a Freelance Writer Can Help a Small Business Owner

1. Manage Social Media Accounts

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram are all great tools for a small business. A freelance writer can post new content to your social media channels daily, answer questions, field important questions to you directly and keep your social media accounts active and engaging.

2. Website Content

How long has it been since you refreshed your content? More than likely you need new SEO enriched content for your site. Need new product descriptions written by a professional? A freelance writer can do it for you!

3. e-Newsletter Content

An effective email marketing campaign is vital to any business. Your e-newsletter is a great way to market your business and provide valuable information to your customers and subscribers.

4. Blog Content

Let’s face it, business owners are busy and don’t have time to manage a blog. A freelance writer can manage your blog and/or write the content for it. This is a great way to educate customers about your products, provide valuable information to them, a great way to advertise your short-term product specials and to announce newly released products for sale.

5. Guest Post Content

Looking to get your business name and information out onto the web? A freelance writer can write expertly written blog articles for you to distribute to other blog owners for publishing.

6. Blog Clean-Up

SEO and marketing has really changed over the past 2 years and many blog owners don’t realize that their old blog posts may not be serving any type of value to them now. It’s important to update old posts to make sure they’re SEO enhanced, search engine compliant, have appropriate keywords & linkage and images added for additional business exposure.

This is just a portion of the work that a typical online small business owner needs to do. What part of this list needs the most attention on your site?

The internet has become a remarkable place for building businesses today. As an independent seller or reseller of product on places like Amazon, eBay, and Etsy, you have a unique ability to build a huge business that’s easy to manage and yet gives you a creative outlet as well.

One of the things that many resellers and independent sellers of product forget or don’t realize is that the product description is just as important in marketing your product as any other portion of your marketing plan. Taking the time to work on improving product descriptions can only help your business in the long run.

Improving Product Descriptions for Your Amazon, Etsy, and EBay Store

Search engine optimization, otherwise known as a SEO, is critical for not only searching through search engines such as Google or Bing, but also internal search engines that sites like eBay, Amazon, and Etsy use. So if your product descriptions are very common and short, you may be missing out on traffic that could otherwise have been yours.

Many people rely on freelance writers to assist with product descriptions that are rich in keywords to help drive traffic and even convert sales. If you are an independent business owner with a shop on eBay, Amazon or Etsy, how long is it been since you have updated and refreshed your product description? Do you have just short descriptions or do you include those important keywords to help search results? Also are you using the features to sell your product or do you focus on the benefits?

If your product descriptions need help or it’s been a while since you’ve updated them, check out our pages regarding your store location and see how we can benefit your business.